The Missouri Republican Party has gone to court to keep the Missouri Ethics Commission from ordering candidates to refund millions of dollars collected under a campaign finance law overturned by the State Supreme Court. The lawsuit claims the Ethics Commission violated the state’s open meetings law in making its decision.
About the time the Republican Party was announcing its lawsuit, a Democratic candidate for Attorney General, Margaret Donnelly, was announcing she had finished returning $5,175 she had collected under the law the State Supreme Court has thrown out. Another Democratic Attorney General candidate, Jeff Harris, says he’ll be returning $40,000 to $50,000.
Attorney General Jay Nixon (D-MO), who is running against Governor Matt Blunt (R-MO), also has said he will be returning money – an amount that might be about one million dollars. Governor Blunt has not said "yes" or "no." He might have to return as much as $4-Million.
